Archive for the General Marketing Category

When it comes to a large-scale promotional event with a massive public interest there is only so much planning a company can do. When it comes to event marketing, things rarely go according to plan. The key to a successful large promotional campaign is the field market manager. Having someone who is a quick thinker and problem solver is crucial. Having someone who is organized, calm and that the staff respects is just as important.

I recently worked an event for Chase and United’s New United MileagePlus Explorer Card. The event took place in Justin Herman Plaza and featured a pop-up baggage claim where consumers could line up for free and pick a bag off the carousel. Each bag contained a prize, some of which included: a Luxury Hotel & Resort Getaway, Fujifilm DSLR Camera, $200 Tumi Gift Card, eReaders and the grand prize of 1 million flier miles. The event was a huge hit and the crowd grew to enormity once the word got out.

This type of event required a lot of staff and I was impressed at how well managed the promotion was considering this. The hours were long, the sun was blazing and the crowd was crazy. Despite all of this, staff kept high energy and the event left a great impression in the minds of consumers. Having a large event like this run so well is somewhat rare and I’m happy to post about what a success the event was.

The key to successful guerrilla and event marketing these days is no longer just executing a successful event, reaching a large amount of people at the event or promotion and influencing them with your brand. These days, it’s much more than that. Social media marketing and mobile are growing so fast there are so many avenues you must hit and can use to your advantage. Facebook and Twitter are the key players but there are so many more growing niche avenues that can be used with the growth of apps.

I recently worked a guerrilla marketing stunt for the promotion of the movie 30 Minutes or Less. We drove around in a food truck giving away free pizza, free pre-screening movie passes, t-shirts, hats and posters outside of nightlife spots. On top of this, we tweeted our location with the hashtag #30morl so others could follow and encouraged people to check in on Foursquare to unlock the 30 Minutes or Less badge. While Twitter was a huge part of the campaign, other apps and websites had to be utilized as well such as Meetup.com and SF Fun and Cheap. With the growth of smartphones, these can be used and updated on the fly. It’s exciting how many resources are out there today for reaching the right demographic and finding the right hot spots. Success no longer just depends on influencing those at the event, it now depends on utilizing all of your resources to find the right spots, reaching more people who would otherwise not join in, and making the conversation last.

San Francisco has been a whirlwind of greatness since I moved here. It’s been a while since I’ve updated because I’ve been so busy working events as well as working for an Oracle VAR doing sales and marketing. Lately, I’ve been working a lot of tradeshows and actually fully coordinated and planned my first conference. Tradeshow marketing is something that is often overlooked considering its effectiveness and importance; particularly when it comes to B2B marketing. This is rather understandable considering the high price of tradeshows. However, you don’t have to have the biggest and most elaborate booth to be successful. There are many keys to success when you are working with a tight budget.

When you have about 5 seconds to stop a person in their tracks and have them listen to you, the right non-verbal and verbal communication skills are crucial. By working events and promotions over the years, I have gained vast amounts of insight into what works and what doesn’t work. What I’ve discovered over and over is that it is all about positive energy.

Being aggressive doesn’t work. When you are overly aggressive, you look desperate. People want to feel as if they are making their own decisions and not being forced to listen to you. People don’t want to feel threatened. Instead of being aggressive be approachable and amiable. Be confident but not aggressive

Along the same lines, people don’t want to be hassled. Everyone is busy, and nobody wants to feel like they are being conned into spending money. Instead of hassling someone, simply be a person they want to talk to.

Smile. This is probably the simplest thing to do. It will not only make you feel better, it will attract others to you.

Look as if you are having fun. People want to be around happy people. If it looks like you are having fun, people will subconsciously think that if they talk to you, they will be having fun as well.

Develop a general interest in people. What better way to look as if you are having fun than by actually having fun. People are generally interesting, funny and exciting. Cherish the fact that you work in a field where you can interact with people all the time.

Don’t act as if it’s a big deal if people don’t want to talk to you. Sometimes, no matter what, some people just aren’t going to want to talk to you. Simply smile and let them be on their way. Other people are watching you and will notice how you react.

Emit warmth. When you think positively about people, it shows. Don’t be afraid of people and develop a feeling of warmth.

The most important communication tool is trust. How can you get someone you don’t even know to trust what you’re saying and listen to you? ..by emitting positive energy. When you think positively, everything else will follow. Your body language, tone of voice and your general demeanor are all extremely important but they will take care of themselves if you think positively and are sure of yourself.

My blog posts and tweets have not been as frequent lately due to the fact that I just co-launched a new blog, Electro and Tonic. While it is not experiential or even marketing related, it is giving me the opportunity to further my social media marketing, SEO, and even experiential marketing skills. The blog is purely a hobby and it focuses on electronic music as well as local venues and events. This just goes to show you that no matter what you are working on, even if it is just a hobby, marketing is a part of it in order to grow.

If any of my followers are interested in electronic music be sure to check out the new blog and follow Electro and Tonic on Twitter @electroandtonic

I recently attended a Deadmau5 concert in Kansas City and the whole experience made me realize how incredibly important it is to brand yourself as a musician. Both performers at the show, Deadmau5 (pronounced “dead-mouse”) and his opener Skrillex, have successfully done this in a number of ways.

For one, Deadmau5’s “mau5head” is an icon in the electronic music world. The performer wears a different mouse-shaped head as he performs different songs. This is his logo; it encompasses his brand and it is different and unforgettable.

Skrillex also does a superb job branding himself. The track he opened with is called “My Name Is Skrillex” and it is one of the most catchy songs I have ever heard. I will never forget his name because of this track.

I was recently fortunate enough to attend Jack Morton’s Brand Camp in Boston. The event was a day-long educational event on experiential marketing and branding. The day consisted of presentations from employees on the importance of experiential, examples of Jack Morton’s work and a group session where we teamed up and created a campaign for a brand we thought needed help.

Brand Camp was not only extremely beneficial for the attendees but it was also beneficial for Jack Morton as an agency . They successfully created the kind of experience that they claim to (and do) create for their clients for us, the next generation of marketers. There aren’t many marketing agencies out there, if any, that put efforts into influencing emerging marketers. This is key because how can you be “the best marketing agency” unless other marketers think of you as such? An interesting , creative and effective approach taken by Jack Morton.

Key points made at Brand Camp:

Experiences trump all in quest for meaning & happiness.

Simple can be better when it comes to branding

To be successful a brand must connect & interact

Experiential marketing is not just event marketing. Experiential is your experience with the brand through the journey.

Jack Morton looks at brands as verbs

Great advertising for a bad brand isn’t going to help

Marketers used to have control but now the consumers do. Marketers have become orchestrators.

Brands should never confuse,ignore,break brand promise or try to be something they aren’t

Brands that are successful understand their audience, take risks, have a “story” & broadcast commitment

Overall, I rate the event as a grand success. I learned, got the opportunity to network, gained insight into the agency and I now have an overall pleasant feeling for the Jack Morton Agency.